New light on Love's family history

By Kate Nocera

10/08/12 04:26 PM EDT

The Salt Lake Tribune published a lengthy profile Monday that sheds new light on the family history of Mia Love, the heralded Republican congressional candidate who's running against Congressman Jim Matheson in Utah’s highly competitive 4th district.

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Love has often spoke proudly on the campaign trail of how her parents came to America with “10 dollars in their pocket” and how they were able to become citizens after she was born here.

But after the liberal magazine Mother Jones published an article headlined “Is Mia Love an anchor baby?”, Love has been forced to deal with uncomfortable questions about her family’s story that would seem to run contrary to the GOP’s position on immigration.

The Tribune spoke with Love’s father, Jean Bourdeau, who detailed how the family became American citizens.

Bourdeau told the Tribune he and his wife fled Haiti on a tourist visa to the United States, leaving behind two children. After Love was born in 1975, they were able to apply for citizenship under the law at the time and bring their other children to the country.

"Mia is a citizen born in this country and at that time the country was favorable for children," Jean Bourdeau said. "It was very easy to do things legally by immigration way."

That law was later repealed, the Tribune wrote.

As local Utah news outlets picked up on the Mother Jones story, Love has said it is a distraction from the issues of the congressional race, and she has been defensive in answering questions about it.

In September, Love seemed to grow frustrated with an ABC 4 reporter’s repeated questions about the story.

“So what? What if they did?” she said. “I mean they are legal. They are legal U.S. citizens. I was born in this country."